I don't know what your own cut looks like, so it's going to be a little hard for me to give some sound advice...

But, what I usually tell my hairdressers (when I go to a new one, that is) is that I've had bad experiences with scissor-happy hairdressers in the past, and that I would prefer to have whatever cut I'm getting to be a little longer than what they envision because of shrinkage. I mostly insist on them cutting off only about an inch of my hair (when pulled down).